Inline hockey player shines in mite division at Rocky Mountain State GamesLance Scott, 8, is inline star at Rocky Mountain State Games

His mother, Amanda, can attest that Lance Scott was not born with a hockey stick in his hand.
It just seems like it for the inline standout, who recently turned 8.
The Evangelical Christian Academy student recorded a tournament-high 29 points (27 goals) in four games Sunday at the Comcast...

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His mother, Amanda, can attest that Lance Scott was not born with a hockey stick in his hand.

It just seems like it for the inline standout, who recently turned 8.

+ captionInline hockey player Lance Scott, 8, led the mite division in points and his team of 7-8-year-olds to a silver medal at the Rocky Mountain State Games, losing out to the 10-year-old squad, on Sunday. Joe Paisley, The Gazette

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The Evangelical Christian Academy student recorded a tournament-high 29 points (27 goals) in four games Sunday at the Comcast Entertainment Television Sports Arena. That paced his team to second place in the mite division at the Rocky Mountain State Games.

The area's top players ages 7-10 were divided by age.

The 10-year-old squad, led by goalie Tim Cencich, went 4-0, beating Scott's team of 7-8 year-olds by a score of 8-7 in a shootout in pool play and 13-8 in the title game.

The older kids jumped to a 4-0 lead early but Scott kept his team in the game by scoring six unassisted goals.

"He was killing it today," said Bill Mulhern, the event director and arena manager. "There is no way 7-year-olds should be close to 10s. He is that good."

Sunday's games started only five hours after his return from Toronto where he led a state all-star team to a gold medal in the 8-and-under division at the North American Roller Hockey Championships, the largest inline tournament in the world with as many as 65 games a day for more than two weeks.

Scott was the high-points scorer for the second year in a row after leading the champion 6-and-under team last summer.

"It was really cool to show them Americans can play hockey," Lance said.

His love of hockey was apparent at 18 months. Lance would pay close attention to games on TV, following the puck but also picking up on other details.

"He wanted to play at age 2 but no one would let him," his father and coach Ward Scott said. "We signed up for inline because they would let him play at 4 instead of waiting until 5. He could score goals at 11/2 in our backyard rink."

He is a smooth skater - he was the quickest in the rink with seemingly little effort - but his attention to detail sets him apart for someone his age.

"It's his hockey smarts," Ward said. "He knows where he needs to be and where he needs to get better."

He is serious beyond his years about his sport.

"I need to work on playing the body better," he said. "That was difficult against the older kids (this weekend)."

And the next moment the Colorado Rampage youth ice hockey player sounds like an 8-year-old again.

"I like roller hockey over ice because it is funner," he said.

But that doesn't get in the way of dreaming of a future in ice hockey.

"I want to play for the (Colorado College) Tigers," he said. "Dad wants me to go to DU (Denver)."

Fortunately, that decision is a ways off.

"I have to keep working to reach that level; I feel confident I will," he said.